


The Dark of You

by KaoticLoki



Series: Sick or Sane [3]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Thor (Movies), Thor - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Avenger Loki (Marvel), Brotherly Bonding, Brotherly Love, Doom is an asshole, Fluff, Gen, Hurt Loki (Marvel), Hurt/Comfort, Jotunn Loki (Marvel), Redemption, Sick Loki (Marvel), Thor (Marvel) is a Good Bro
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-22
Updated: 2018-04-22
Packaged: 2019-04-26 05:36:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14395404
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KaoticLoki/pseuds/KaoticLoki
Summary: Prompt from cosmic_medusaThor and Loki are in Avengers' tower, part of the team. Two ideas about how the illness happens:On a mission against a Sorcerer/Sorceress/the like, Loki is hit with a curse/spell designed to kill Frost Giants by slowly raising their internal temperature/blood until it's basically boiling in them;orLoki is somehow given/injected with a poison that has the same effect.He's able to use his own magic to combat the effects over several days while the team tries to identify what's happened and how to cure it. Thor is torn between searching for the cure and staying with his brother until Loki finally asks him to just stay with him until the end.It's a photo-finish but the team come up with a cure.Bonus if Loki wrestles with his heritage as part of it.





	The Dark of You

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cosmic_medusa](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cosmic_medusa/gifts).



“Brother, be still!” Thor pushed against the body arching from the bed, feeling heat below the sheets where there should have been cold. A part of him wondered if Loki’s blue skin would even have its usual frigid bite. Even in his Jotun skin, there was a flush to the younger god’s face. “You’re going to hurt yourself!”

 

“I-I’m  _ burning _ !” Loki hissed, dark nails tearing the thin sheets of the medical bed.

 

“I know, Loki.” The Aesir king looked over his left shoulder to where he could see Stark and Banner through the glass, fervently working on the antidote. Would what they had been able to salvage be enough? He turned his gaze back when he felt Loki go still. “Brother?” Unconscious again, breathing and heart rate slowing to near nonexistence. 

 

Wait… This was different; too still, too silent. There was no rise and fall of his brother’s chest. 

 

Loki had stopped breathing.

  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  


- _ 24 Hours Earlier _ __ _ - _

  
  
  


“You  _ would _ be the one to enjoy pineapple on your pizza.”

 

“Is this  _ really _ the appropriate time to have this conversation, Stark?”

 

“There is  _ never _ an appropriate time to discuss pineapple on pizza, Merlin!” Loki held a score of Doombots suspended in air while Tony shot them down. 

 

Thor landed in a brilliant display of lightning that took out the closest enemies. “What a coward to hide behind an army of replicas!” 

 

“ _ Hey _ !” Loki’s dagger embedded itself in a bot’s eye in a shower of sparks. 

 

“If the shoe fits!” Barton ran up to the sorcerer, pausing to give him a smirk and a wink even as he released an arrow. 

 

“I’ll turn you into a shoe!”

 

“I work with children. Honest to God children.” Natasha backed into the fray, pistols firing. 

 

A mere 12 months earlier, a ship had plummeted through the earth’s atmosphere and a titan followed, endeavoring on courting Death and offering up half of humanity as bouquet of roses. What he had not counted on was the ability of good and evil to adapt, to coexist, to fight as one. Humans, gods, and aliens defeated the threat and protected not only the planet, but the universe. While most diverged on their own paths, a select few remained to rebuild the collaboration once known as the Avengers, Earth’s mightiest heroes. Some new recruits had...questionable pasts, a résumé of death and chaos.

 

Well, one new recruit.

 

Loki. 

 

Thor had defended his brother admirably, insisted he had suffered enough for his crimes against both of their worlds; that he had been influenced and tortured into his folly. He had been beyond angered when Loki was thrown into a holding cell in the depths of the Avengers’ mansion, but it wasn’t Thor who ultimately convinced Tony Stark of the god’s redemption. It had been Loki himself.  

 

Days had passed without so much as a hint of trouble. Then weeks. Tony had opened the cell, given him the opportunity to attack or to plead or to explain. He did none of them. He had answered questions and gave input that helped the Avengers track down the remaining Chitauri and Outriders. When Corvus Glaive, the last of Thanos’ Black Order, had come to collect Loki’s head in recompense, the god had offered it willingly in exchange for the safety of Midgard. The Avengers gladly stepped in to dispatch the creature and render Loki’s agreement null. He had kept his head and earned his freedom. With Thor choosing to remain as well, he and Loki would teleport to Norway twice a week to appease the Aesir council. The people were now under the watchful eye of Heimdall and the protection of the Valkyrie’s Dragon Fang, but the King and Crowned Prince were still in high demand. 

 

Though he was still very much the God of Mischief (and reminded them every chance he was offered), he was now an Avenger. As such, he had managed to attract unwanted attention. Many enemies attempted to appeal to the small section of his heart that remained tainted, jealous, and villainous. Though the offers had often proven tempting, his loyalty had remained, much to Thor’s surprise...and relief. Other adversaries took a different sort of interest. Victor von Doom had become all but obsessed with the Odinson brothers or, more specifically, the powers they possessed. Mere weeks after Loki was released to aid the Avengers, Doom had managed to trap the trickster, weakened and disoriented, just after a battle and experimented on the god using methods frowned upon in most...well...everywhere. Suffice to say, having allies and a lightning-wielding big brother had definitely been in his favor.

 

“Brother, please, turn Barton back.” Lightning sparked in the King’s good eye, more to intimidate the enemy but sometimes little brothers needed a slight push in the right direction as well. Loki sneered as he held up the gray kitten by the scruff, muttering something just as the little ball of fluff began to shimmer and morph into a highly irritated archer. Loki looked down on him with his smuggest of smiles. 

 

“I swear, asshole, if you  _ ever _ do that again, I’ll-”

 

Loki wagged a finger, clicking his tongue. “Do not threaten me, Hawk, or next time, you’ll be a dung beetle.”

 

“ _ Loki _ , you’re seriously pushing your-” A dagger whisked past Clint’s left ear and impaled the Doombot just behind him. The machine sputtered, sparked, and seized before crumbling to the ground. The archer looked over his shoulder and back to the trickster as he summoned another weapon. 

 

“ _ What _ ? I missed.” Loki smirked as he fizzled out of sight, teleporting elsewhere before he could be accused of intentionally saving the man’s life. 

 

Barton shook his head with an amused smile, firing an arrow into a bot without taking his eyes from where Loki had been standing. Their companionship had been the hardest to create and build upon. Though Barton knew Loki wasn’t entirely at fault for the nightmares the mind stone had inflicted through the archer’s capable hands, he found it hard to forgive the small part the trickster god  _ had _ played. Loki had never apologized and Barton had never expected him to, but he  _ had _ explained. He had opened his arms and offered an open shot, no target unacceptable. Barton had notched the arrow, pulled the bow taut, aimed for a solemn green eye… and shot the god in the thigh instead. Not fatal, hardly painful, but satisfying enough. 

 

* * *

  
  
  


Loki materialized two blocks down, bot activity now at a minimum, to search for stragglers or any clues as to Dr. Doom’s whereabouts. Cape flaring behind him, he held out a palm toward a charging bot, his magic enveloping the creation’s metal head to twist it off. “How  _ dull. _ ” 

 

“On the contrary,”

 

Loki smirked,  _ ‘Finally, something worth my time,’ _ and turned to find Victor von Doom hovering in the air between two streetlights, hood shielding his masked face.

 

“I find this fracas quite enjoyable, as it has shown me more and more of your remarkable abilities.” Doom descended and lowered his hood, disturbingly human eyes dissecting the god. 

 

“Ah, you flatter me, doctor.” Loki laced his fingers together behind his back and began to lazily pace several feet, back and forth. “However, if this is an invitation back to your lab, I am afraid I shall have to decline.” The Prince stilled, his eyes growing dark. “I’m afraid you lack in the area of hospitality.” He hissed dangerously. 

 

“Oh, come now, your highness. What’s a little vivisection between friends?” 

 

Loki scowled, clearly not keen on revisiting those memories.

 

_ “Be still now before you cause me to knick something you may need.” Doom lowered his hand back into Loki’s open abdominal cavity, moving aside organs and muscle just to watch the tendrils of magic attempt to put them back into place. “Fascinating!” _

 

_ The god attempted to arch against his restraints. He was unable to make a sound other than gagging on the blood bubbling up in his throat. _

 

“Why are you here, Doom?” Loki dropped his arms to his sides, fingers flexing with sparks of barely contained magic at his fingertips. “This is all rather...sloppy, even for you.” He gestured broadly with a curl of his lip.

 

“Well, you see, after our last...encounter, I had more than enough samples and data with which to conduct my research on your abilities.” Loki wished he could see the expression behind the mask, an uneasy feeling settling in his gut as the doctor continued to speak. “Until I came across a vital piece of information that I hadn’t noticed in my haste. Granted, had your bothersome do-gooders not shown up, I would have been able to test my theory then and there.”

 

“And what was this theory, pray tell?” He was actually not sure if he wanted to know, after all. 

 

“That you, dear sorcerer, are not Aesir at all. Your body temperature would have even the strongest Aesir in the thralls of hypothermia.” 

 

Loki visibly flinched and any hope that the enemy had missed it was quickly dashed. 

 

“Ah, I see. I am correct. But what are you  _ exactly _ ? I have an idea, but I need more data to solve this mystery.”

 

“I’m afraid that is a mystery you’ll never solve, Victor.” Loki threw his arms forward with a semilunar blast of seidr that would have carved the man in half had he not moved quickly enough. The trickster leapt and jumped off the wall, springing over the scientist’s head with another attack from above. Landing in a crouch, Loki’s eyes narrowed as Doom’s armor appeared to be  _ absorbing _ the attack. “What in the Nine?” 

 

“Oh, yes, little god. This suit has all sorts of surprises that you haven’t seen yet, given our few meetings. This is a personal favorite!” 

 

Green eyes widened as his own magic was projected back at him. Loki rolled to the side, barely evading the attack. “Impressive.” He admitted as he rose to his feet. With a twitch of his wrists, a dagger fell into each hand. “It won’t be good enough, but impressive, nonetheless.” With a step forward, Loki began to throw the knives, spinning and sidestepping to avoid having the deflected ones ricochet back into him. He ducked under the final dagger that Doom was able to send back and teleported the last few feet, sweeping his leg underneath the scientist to bring him down. As Doom fell and Loki straightened, a conjured dagger was positioned just so, impaling the doctor’s chin as he came down. “I retract that ‘impressive’ comment.” Loki smirked, pulling the dagger free. As the body began to crumple, where there should have been blood, there was only oil and sparks. 

 

He realized a second too late.

 

The blade bit into his abdomen and was held fast as Doom’s large armored hand wrapped around Loki’s throat from behind. “It seems I’ve tricked the trickster.” Teeth clenched, Loki wrapped his hands around the one holding the weapon and tried to pull it free. “Oh, this seems terribly uncomfortable. Here, let me give you a hand.” With a swift jerk, the blade pulled free with a jet of blood across the pavement. Loki collapsed to his knees with a grunt, both hands holding pressure on the wound. He opened his mouth, a sarcastic retort on his tongue, but the pain that wracked him stole his breath. Doom watched with wide, manic eyes, reveling in the instant effect of his recent toils in the lab. Loki panted for air, eyes wide as they flickered between vivid green and crimson, his skin changed shades in waves. The healthy pink Aesir flesh was smothered by a tide of indigo before reverting. “Excellent, excellent.” Doom roughly hauled the god to his feet, the grip on his bicep the only thing that kept him from pitching forward. “I have so many tests to run before the serum runs its course!”

 

“Not today, pal!” 

 

A repulsor beam hit Doom’s chest plate, doing little more than knock him back away from Loki. The Prince fell to all fours, focusing all of his energy on restoring the balance of his seidr. Thor’s booming voice was calling his name as the battle was waged around him, but Loki only stared at his hands; blue, blue, blue.  _ ‘No, no, no, no…’  _ Blue, blue, lighter, lighter, focus, focus…

 

“Loki! Brother, are you hurt?” Thor dropped to his knees beside the younger, pushing on his shoulders to force him to meet his gaze. The thunderer could have sworn he saw a flicker of red before the bright green met his crystal blue. There was blood running down the Prince’s thigh from a puncture in his abdomen, but other than that that, he looked fine. Terrified, but fine. So, why did a heavy unease settle like a stone in Thor’s gut? “Are you injured?” He asked again, gripping Loki’s chin to keep him focused. 

 

There was no point in lying. Thor knew from before, he had seen. They had all seen. With a shaky breath, he whispered “yes” and allowed the darkness to drag him under with his brother’s voice in his ear.

 

* * *

  
  
  


Loki came around slowly, pain searing through his mind and body. It was difficult to think around the cotton in his head and his memories were fuzzy at best. But the pain was real. It was there, savage and unforgiving in his very veins, just under the skin.

 

Skin.

 

The Prince shot upright with a gasp, curling in on himself when the abdominal wound pulled. He had avoided crying out, but pain needn’t be vocalized for Thor to be aware of his discomfort. A large hand was already on his back, still but steady, to anchor and support. Loki, finally breathing normally, peeled open his eyes and mentally sighed in relief at the Aesir glamour he saw on the arm around his middle. Perhaps he had imagined the transition in the haze of his discomfort. 

 

“Rest easy, brother. Your spell had stabilized before I arrived here with you.” 

 

Loki’s stomach churned anxiously, but he did not look at his brother. “How many saw?” He asked in a broken whisper. 

 

After a moment, Thor moved his hand upward and squeezed the shoulder closest to him. “No one.” The younger finally looked up, brow drawn. “I covered you with my cape until I saw you had changed. Brother, do you not think it time to accept your true skin?”

 

“Don’t speak on things you know nothing about, Thor.” He could feel his hackles rise as the suggestion but could find no heat to put behind his words. “I’ll never accept that monster and I won’t allow you to appeal to reason and logic now.” No heat, but no room for argument either. With a trembling hand, he ignored his brother’s heavy sighing and pulled up the green t-shirt to examine the now stapled wound. “This should be healing.”

 

“It has only been a few hours.” The thunderer rubbed a tired hand over his face and sat back in his chair. “Though with an enemy such as Doom, you would do well to focus your magic to the wound. There is no telling what poison he has set upon you.” Loki looked confused, staring off distantly while pressing a palm to the center of his chest. “Loki?”

 

“I  _ am  _ focusing my seidr. It’s...not responding.” He could feel it, pulsing in his core, reaching out to the afflicted tissue and muscle only to be repelled, cast aside. He tried again and again until the effort made him dizzy and nauseous, sagging on the bed and panting. “I don’t understand.”

 

“Perhaps he  _ did  _ use a poison?” Thor pressed as he scooted to sit on the end of the chair, getting closer to Loki without invading his personal space. If he had learned anything about his little brother over the centuries, hovering was never beneficial. Loki would only feel suffocated and rebel, disregarding even his own best interest for the sake of escaping. “I wouldn’t worry. Bruce and Tony will be seeing to your care. They will know what to do.”

 

“Forgive me if I don’t find that at all comforting.” In truth, he did, but reputations and all that. The brothers sat in silence for mere heartbeats before the glass door slid open with a hiss.

 

“Hey, there, Rudolph. Nice to see you sitting up, not bleeding, and on the right side of consciousness.”

 

“Stark.” Loki nodded.

 

“How are you?” Bruce asked as he moved toward the head of the bed. Loki started as the mattress began to move, folding underneath him for the top to come up toward his back. “Sorry, just thought you’d be a little more comfortable.”

 

“I have no intention of remaining here much longer, Dr. Banner.” The Prince glanced up when Thor cleared his throat and raised his brows. Loki quickly added, “but I’d like thank you for your concern and your aid.” He would have eventually said so without his brother’s prompting, but there was no harm in proclaiming it now. 

 

“I didn’t think you’d stay down too long. And I think we’ve moved past Dr. Banner, Loki. You only call me that when you’re being petulant. Cut it out. May I check your wound?”

 

Loki didn’t have to look at Thor to know that he needed to cooperate lest he face the wrath of his kingly brother. Muttering under his breath, he laid back against the mattress and begrudgingly pulled up his shirt. Bruce began to prod around the tender area, earning only a few Nordic curses and annoyed glares. 

 

“Tony, did you notice these before?”

 

Loki didn’t miss the concerned edge to the doctor’s voice, sparing Thor a glance before the brothers looked to Tony. The billionaire was standing just behind banner, hands in his pockets, with his head tilted and bottom lip betwixt his teeth.

 

“No.” He answered quietly. “No, I didn’t.” 

 

“What is it, Bruce?” Thor asked, leaning to also gaze at his brother’s abdomen. Loki rolled his eyes and joined the majority, brow wrinkling. He himself had checked the wound mere moments before the two men had entered, but now, splintering out from the edges of the closed puncture were red tendrils on pale blue flesh. Loki paled. 

 

“I think we should run a few tests. Loki,” Brown eyes waited for the green ones of the patient to comply, “how are you feeling?  _ Really _ ?” The trickster seemed to contemplate the question, gaze flickering from the wound to his brother and then back to Banner. He was definitely troubled by what they were seeing.

 

“I’m...tired. A little warm. My body aches, but I assume these are all normal repercussions of being stabbed on a filthy Midgardian street.” 

 

“Right.” Tony said quickly, raising his eyebrows and clapping his palms together. “He sure  _ sounds _ okay. Bruce?”

 

“I don’t know.” The scientist replied quietly. Loki watched him in silence, anxiety twisting like nausea in his gut. “I think you should hang out here for just a while longer. I’m going to draw some blood.”

 

“Oh,  _ joy _ .” Loki quipped, pushing his shirt down. He nearly knocked Bruce’s hands out of the way.  

 

“Okay, well, you have fun with that.” Tony patted Bruce’s shoulder and walked toward the exit. “I’m grabbing some food. You guys want anything?” He turned and pointed at each of the men. “So help me, Lokes, you say pizza with pineapple and I’ll inject air into your IV!”

 

* * *

  
  
  


Loki awoke several hours later, curled on his side with his knees drawn up. The room was not quite dark as Tony was most likely working in the lab just outside the glass walls. He didn’t remember falling asleep. He could recall not feeling hungry once Tony had returned with a plethora of sub sandwiches and salads. His interest had been on the heaviness that was beginning to surround his wound and the heat that had begun to brew under the skin. The trickster cleared his dry throat and threw back the thin blanket, pushing himself into a sitting position with his long legs dangling off the side. With minimal difficulty, he stood and waited for his legs to adjust to his weight.

 

“Brother?”

 

Once he was certain he would not stumble, Loki looked over his shoulder. Thor was still in that damn chair, booted feet propped up on the edge of the mattress. His good eye was only half open. 

 

“I’m fine, Thor. Stop fretting.” As if to prove his point, he shuffled to the restroom and disappeared behind the closed door. After using the facilities and washing his hands, he threw some water on his face and patted it dry with a towel. After hanging the towel back on the rack, he looked down toward his midsection and focused on the discomfort he was feeling around the wound. When he pulled up his shirt, his eyes widened and he stumbled back into the sink.

 

His entire midsection, pelvis to pecks, was blue. Red veins protruded from beneath the flesh, sensitive and warm to the touch. 

 

He needed to ask Bruce what the blood tests had shown before this spread any further. He reached for the door and pulled it open, all but stumbling out into the med bay. When had he become so lightheaded? The god shuddered and reached for the wall to steady himself, stumbling until his palm connected with the smooth surface. 

 

“Loki?” 

 

_ ‘Thor. Can’t… breathe…’  _ He wanted to say as he sank to his knees, eyes darting around in a desperate search for his brother. When he continued to gasp for breath that refused to fill his starving lungs, he toppled sideways but never met the floor.

 

“Loki, what happened? Brother?” Thor’s hands were on him, holding him, pulling at his shirt, touching his skin just to recoil with a pained shout. “Tony!” 

 

_ ‘No, no, no...they cannot see...Thor, don’t let them see…’ _

 

More hands and more voices but he could no longer focus enough to care. He was so tired and felt so warm. No, he wasn’t warm.

 

He was  _ hot _ . 

 

He was on fucking  _ fire _ , boiling inside.

 

At some point after he could no longer see, he must have been able to take a breath because the last thing he heard before the darkness smothered him was his own pained scream.

 

* * *

  
  


“He’s blue.” Tony stood at the foot of the bed, eyes wide and drink in hand, while Bruce carefully checked Loki’s vitals. 

 

Thor had explained the danger of touching the Prince’s skin without some sort of coverage. The medical gloves seemed to do the trick, but Banner had to put on two pair to just be able to tolerate the man’s frigid epidermis. 

 

“Yes.” Thor replied quietly, standing back out of the way with his arms crossed, one fist in front of his mouth. The mask over his brother’s mouth and nose (oxygen, Bruce had explained) was covered thinly with frost but was hopefully still performing its intended duty. Bruce had also attempted to start another IV, but the fluids had frozen inside the catheter and only succeeded in an ugly, blown vein. 

 

“Thor.” Tony continued after another sip of scotch. “He’s  _ blue _ . Like ‘ _ da ba dee da ba daa _ ’ blue! Like Smurf blue!”

 

“Stop speaking in riddles, Tony! I can’t bear it right now!” Thor snapped, brow furrowed. “He’s a Frost Giant! From Jotunheim! You bear witness to his true skin.”  _ ‘And he will hate himself for allowing you to see…’ _

 

“Okay, okay, Footloose.” Tony deposited his glass on the bedside table and held up his hands in surrender. “I’m just trying to understand. When you said  _ adopted _ , you meant like...”

 

“He is my brother, no matter his origins.”

 

“Fair enough. Bruce? What’ve you got?”

 

“Blood tests are inconclusive. I don’t know enough about his physiology to gain any insight and we can’t use Thor as a baseline now that we know they aren’t even the same species.” Banner stepped back and shook his head. “It had to be poison. Something...something developed to specifically target his physiological makeup.”

 

“Doom has had it out for Loki since their first meeting. Crazy bastard…” Tony trailed off, closing his eyes to rein in his flaring anger.

 

_ “Hang in there, Lokes.” _

 

_ “Just….kill...k-kill me…” _

 

_ If the trickster could see behind the iron mask, he would know Tony would never be capable of such an act, merciful or not. The tears clung to his lashes and fell silently with only FRIDAY knowing they existed.  _

 

_ “Nah, who would I pick on if you weren’t around, huh?” An armored hand wrapped around the god’s trembling digits and squeezed gently. Tony stayed focused on Loki’s face as Bruce removed the spreader, allowing bone and muscle to begin to shift back into place.  _

 

_ He had to cover Loki’s mouth when the agonized screams became to much…. _

 

“Tony?”

 

“Yea?” Back to reality, Stark regarded the other two men, knowing the conversation had gone on without him. 

 

“We need an antidote.” Bruce stated what they all already knew. “Whatever it is, it’s preventing his magic from healing him as it normally does.”

 

“Not completely.” Thor interjected, taking a seat by the bed. “I think he’s only survived  _ this long _ because of his seidr. It was deflecting it while he remained in Aesir form, the glamour is a second skin that he’s adapted to hold automatically. Now that he has shifted and that portion of seidr has been freed up, look.” The thunderer pointed to the wound, closed and barely visible aside from the staples that still decorated its length. “But the poison continues to spread.” He stared at the crimson veins that riddled Loki’s torso, now spreading into his neck and below the waistline of his pants. “The magic is slowing the progression, but...I believe our time is short, friends.”

 

“Alright, then.” Tony nodded, eyes hard and determined. “Thor, stay with Loki. If he wakes up, you may be the only one who can get through to him. And fill FRIDAY in on Frost Trolls or Beings-”

 

“Giants!” Thor interjected, not angry but clearly exasperated. Had Stark been a  _ new _ acquaintance, the thunderer would have probably already fried him.

 

“-Yep! Those and Jotun-wherever. Maybe there is some info in Norse mythology we can use. Bruce, start working on the base formula to an antidote. I’ll go gather the possy and we’ll pay Captain Doom-Douche a visit.”

 

* * *

  
  


Loki could feel the muzzle cutting into his jaw again, silencing him and stealing his breath. He was no longer on Asgard. No, Asgard was in ruins and he had been pardoned on earth. What had he done to provoke such punishment? His arms were free, he quickly deduced. Clumsily, he raised a hand and scratched at the muzzle, finding it to be loose. He could remove it, if only his damned fingers would cooperate. He could-

 

“ _ Easy _ , brother.”

 

_ Thor _ had allowed this? No, this couldn’t be-

 

“Here, I’ll remove it. Be calm, Loki.” 

 

He felt the pressure shift and pull away, but it was no easier to breathe. With difficulty, he blinked open his eyes and immediately squeezed them shut, the lights too harsh.

 

“Loki, do you remember what happened?”

 

Shadows passed over his lids and he knew Thor had dimmed the lights, but why? If he was again a prisoner, if he deserved no mercy…

 

“Loki?”

 

He managed to shake his head. Why was there so much concern in Thor’s voice? Was he bound for the ax after all this time? Had he not achieved redemption?

 

“You were injured. We fought Doom, you and I and the rest of the Avengers.”

 

He finally peeled his eyes open, blinking slowly until the the ceiling tiles and light fixtures were more in focus.

 

“Brother, I need you to remain calm but you must know that you-”

 

Loki had raised his hand to rub at his dry, sore eyes, when all he could see was blue. He gasped as his memory righted itself in a rush of vivid images and information, crying out as his magic flared within him, clawing at the poison; pushing it back. It was no use. Even his powerful seidr could only slow the progress, setting up barriers that the chemical would chew and blast through one by one until he was consumed. His body was hot, his blood was magma that threatened to spill through his pores and dissolve him completely. 

 

“Are you still with me?”

 

Thor. “Brother…” Loki rasped, face contorting as another barrier broke and pain thudded through him again. “Who-”

 

“Bruce and Tony. Only them.”

 

He closed his eyes tightly and swallowed the shame of appearing so weak; of revealing the monster to those who had come to call him ‘friend.’ He felt stripped naked, bare for all to see the beast that had always lain hidden behind his magic. If he survived this, he would have to run. He would not subject them to the hideous thing he had been cursed to be. He would not-

 

“Stop your fretting, Loki.” Thor scolded from his left. With effort, he managed to roll his head, crimson eyes searching one blue one. 

 

“They-” His throat was so dry. He coughed and tried again. “They’ve seen...the monster now, Thor.”

 

“The only one who sees a monster is  _ you _ , brother.” 

 

“You’re a fool.” Loki hissed with all the venom he could manage.

 

“ _ YOU _ are the fool if you think something such as this,” the elder gestured broadly at the figure on the bed, “would make them think any less of you and your ability to do what is necessary! This is folly, Loki! And it must stop!” 

 

Loki dropped his gaze and closed his eyes, letting his brother’s words sink in, though he had no desire to continue the conversation as another wave of pain took hold, coaxing a hoarse cry from his throat. 

 

“Banner is working on an antidote. The others have gone in search of Doom. They will bring back what is needed to make you well.”

 

“After...all we’ve seen...all we’ve been through,” Loki paused for a breath, “how can you still be so optimistic?” He could feel the poison spreading to his heart, the scorching heat in his veins constricting his organs and muscles. “What if they fail?”

 

“They won’t.”

 

“But if they do, Thor.”

 

“They  _ won’t _ , Loki. Now, shut up and rest.” Thor ordered, though his voice was gentle. He watched as his brother turned his head away, knowing the idiot would only lie there and wage his inner wars, hating himself for something he had no control over. If only Loki could see his value, know his importance. 

 

If only....

 

* * *

  
  
  


Hours crept by, the spasms of agony coming more frequently and lasting longer each time. When Thor had witnessed all he could take, he had stood to go in search of the others, determined to succeed with or without them. He would  _ not _ lose his brother. As the worst of the spell had passed, Loki had breathed his name, stopping him in his tracks just inside the door.

 

“Don’t...go.” The Prince whispered. 

 

“I must go help, Loki, or I’m afraid you’ll-”

 

“And if I do… I want you at my side.”

 

Thor’s single eye widened and shone with fresh moisture. “Loki, don’t-” He shook his head and ran a trembling hand through his spiky hair. 

 

“Stay, brother.” Crimson eyes pleaded. Thor had never seen such emotion in the orbs of a Frost Giant. He had once thought it impossible. They truly knew nothing of the species they had depicted as monsters for centuries...and now his brother would pay the price. “Stay...until it’s over…”

 

Thor stood quietly at the door, trembling to contain his emotions. He nodded and walked back toward the bed, grabbing a pair of the gloves Bruce had earlier used. “Okay, brother.” He pulled his chair closer and sat, pulling both gloves onto one hand to wrap his fingers tightly around Loki’s. When the younger didn’t pull away, Thor gave the hand a squeeze. “I won’t leave you.”

  
  


* * *

  
  


“They’re back!” Bruce barely let the door open before he forced his way through, steps slowing the closer he got to the bed. Loki’s head was thrashing back and forth on the pillow, a constant moan on his lips. Thor was hovering as if he wanted to take the risk of being burned in order to comfort his little brother. “Thor.”

 

“Were they successful?” The King asked quietly.

 

“They were. Doom escaped. He tried to sabotage the data, but FRIDAY was able to save most of what we needed.” Banner shifted to walk back toward the lab. “We just need a little more time.”

 

“I’m not sure we have much left, Bruce.” 

  
  
  


* * *

 

“Brother, be still!” Thor pushed against the body arching from the bed, feeling heat below the sheets where there should have been cold. A part of him wondered if Loki’s blue skin would even have its usual frigid bite. Even in his Jotun skin, there was a flush to the younger god’s face. “You’re going to hurt yourself!”

 

“I-I’m  _ burning _ !” Loki hissed, dark nails tearing the thin sheets of the medical bed.

 

“I know, Loki.” The Aesir king looked over his left shoulder to where he could see Stark and Banner through the glass, fervently working on the antidote. Would what they had been able to salvage be enough? He turned his gaze back when he felt Loki go still. “Brother?” Unconscious again, breathing and heart rate slowing to near nonexistence. 

 

Wait… This was different; too still, too silent. There was no rise and fall of his brother’s chest. 

 

Loki had stopped breathing.

 

“No, no, no! Loki?  _ Loki _ ?” Burns be damned, Thor tossed the sheets aside and grabbed his brother by the shoulders. His blue skin was pure  _ fire _ . He pulled the limp form up so that Loki’s head lolled against Thor’s chest. “Loki, stay with me!” 

 

“Thor! We’ve got it!” Tony burst into the room, still partially suited, successfully tearing the sliding door off track. Banner was on his heels with a syringe, tapping it as they quickly approached the brothers.

 

“He’s not breathing!”

 

_ ‘Sir, I’m afraid Mr. Laufeyson has gone into cardiac arrest.’ _

 

“Hurry, Bruce!”

 

“Holy shit, he’s burning up.” Bruce injected the bright green liquid into the crook of the trickster’s elbow. For several moments, nothing happened. Thor dropped his forehead against his brother’s and began to rock back and forth, hollow and desperate. “Something’s happening!” From the injection site, the red veins began to sink and disappear and before long, Thor was forced to drop his brother onto the mattress, the frigid cold seeping back into the flawless blue skin that remained. 

 

“Loki?” Thor leaned over the bed, muttering something Nordic. 

 

_ ‘Sir, there is no pulse. Would you like me to record a time of death?’ _

 

“No...just wait…” Tony stood back to give the gods room, but could feel the very real terror settling in his gut. They had been too late. Natasha and Clint were now standing just on the other side of the glass, watching solemnly. Bruce watched the young Prince intensely for any change.

 

_ ‘Sir?” _

 

“Not yet!” Tony snapped.

 

_ ‘I’m sorry, sir. I only meant to inform you that I have picked up a pulse.’ _

 

* * *

  
  
  


“How are you feeling?” 

 

Loki rolled his head toward the now half-functioning door and blinked slowly, glad it was his brother who entered. With a sigh of relief, he allowed his glamor to fizzle out and leave him fully Jotun. “Weak. Pathetic.”

 

“Stop.” The King looked back to ensure the curtains were drawn, shielding the medical area from anyone who may have been in the lab. “FRIDAY, ensure no one enters without our knowledge first.”

 

_ “Yes, Mr. Odinson.” _

 

Loki scowled. “It’s still strange when people speak to that...disembodied voice.” Thor sat a tray on the bedside table and began arranging its contents. “You’re not feeding me again.” He kept his head turned away. Though he had accepted that Thor was not bothered at seeing him in this state,  _ he _ had not accepted being seen. However, he was tired and empty, nearly every ounce of seidr used to battle Doom’s poison. 

 

“Then you’ll do well to attempt on your own or I  _ will _ make Pegasus noises.” When the younger turned his head to glare at him, Thor raised an eyebrow that said  _ ‘try me _ .’ Satisfied when Loki started to slowly sit up, the thunderer took his usual seat with the bowl of what Pepper had called ‘chicken noodle soup’ in his hand. 

 

“Give it here, ox.” 

 

Thor offered up the bowl and kept his hand near until he was sure Loki would not drop it. He observed quietly as his brother ate, flicking his eye away when he knew his stare had become uncomfortable. “Really, brother, how are you feeling?” He asked, finding a particularly interesting spot on the wall upon which to focus.

 

“I answered.” The younger shrugged.

 

“Loki-”

 

“What is it you wish for me to say, brother? Hmm?” Loki sat the bowl on his lap, holding the sides so it did not tip. “That I can now accept the truth of what I am? That I do not fear those who now call me a friend will one day decide that I am no longer useful and call me a monster, just as Odin did?”

 

“Our friends have no ill perceptions about what you are, Loki.”

 

“Not yet.”

 

“Not everyone is like Father. And in the end, even he wanted you to know he still had love for you.” Thor  _ was _ looking at him now, truly appreciating the beauty in the form Loki despised. “Did you ever take a moment to notice how  _ different  _ you are from them?” Loki had opened his mouth to comment on their father, but shut it even more quickly, tilting his head. Thor continued, “yes, you are smaller, which is why you were so easily kept among our people, but you are  _ not _ the Jotnar in horror stories, Loki. They wear crowns and manes of ice, while you bear your long hair that you share with your glamour. Their blanket of runes are sharp and jagged while yours flow lissomely. And their eyes, as crimson as the blood they spill, are filled with frozen malice. Even as you tear apart everything I say to you now in that head of yours, brother, I can read your eyes. You are a Jotun, yes, but you are  _ not _ a monster.”

 

Loki’s mouth opened and shut several times before he simply went back to eating the soup.

 

Thor laughed. “Apparently, you lack your silver tongue in this form, though. Perhaps you should remain this way.”

 

“Don’t joke, Thor.” He handed the bowl back to his brother, who gave him a look over how little he had eaten but said nothing. “I have every intention of getting rid of this form at my earliest ability to hold the spell.”

 

“No one is asking you to, Loki. Just as I am not asking you  _ not _ to. I am only asking that you  _ accept _ this as part of you. Not a reason to run. Not an excuse to disappear. Our comrades have little concern about this, only that you didn’t tell them sooner so that attempts to use it against you wouldn’t take so long to remedy. To them, you are Loki and that’s all that matters.” When  Loki remained quiet, Thor sighed. “Use the glamour if you must, just don’t push yourself.”

 

“I won’t.”

 

“Liar.”

 

“It’s what I do.” Loki shrugged and slowly lowered to lie on his side, facing away from Thor. “Go away, I’m tired.” Just as he closed his eyes, he felt booted feet come to rest just beside the small of his back. “You’re incorrigible.”

 

“It’s what  _ I  _ do, little brother.”

  
  


* * *

  
  
  


Victor sat at his laptop, staring at the data on the screen with fury in his eyes. He had been so close to unlocking the secrets of Loki’s magic, harnessing a power that the universe would not be able to understand nor defend against. Glancing at the clock, he knew the god would have succumb to the serum long ago and he slammed the laptop closed. “Such a waste!” He spat. He would need the brother now. Perhaps their combined data would prove to be worth this failure. Stomping up the stairs and out of the basement, he entered the living area of his safehouse and walked toward his room to retrieve his armor.

 

“Going somewhere, doctor?”

 

Doom scrambled for the mask that clung to his belt, shielding his face until he had it secure. “Ah, the clever little spider. Tell me, how on earth were you able to find me?”

 

Natasha strolled from the shadows beside the stairs that led to the second floor, stopping just at the edge of the light, gun in hand albeit lowered. “Oh, I didn’t find you.” 

 

Clint walked down the stairs, stopping on the third from the bottom, arrow notched but bow lowered. 

 

“You’ve come to avenge your fallen sorcerer, is that it?”

 

“Wrong again.” Tony strolled in from the kitchen, with a half eaten banana but no suit (though the flashing red light on the bracelets he wore told that he could remedy that easily enough). As Doom continued to turn, he found Thor in the front doorway, the air around him popping and cracking with static. Yet, they all remained at a distance.

 

“What game are you playing?” He hissed, eyes narrowed behind his mask.

 

“There is a time and a place for games, Victor,”

 

Doom spun around to the doorway of his room. That was not a voice he had expected to ever hear again. A pair of piercing green eyes were visible in the doorway, dancing with mischief.

 

“And being that I am the God of Mischief and Chaos,” The brilliant green swam and gave way to a solid crimson, narrowed and dangerous. “I do enjoy a good game every now and again.” Loki waltzed forward into the light, eyes once again green as if the transition had never happened. He was calmed and collected, frighteningly so, stalking toward the scientist with his hands clasped behind his back. “Though, I’m afraid that this will not be such fun...for you.”

  
  
  
  
  



End file.
